The present invention relates to specific apparatus improvements in ornamental frames for retaining objects such as coins or jewelry and which can be worn by individuals as a decorative accessory to their attire or as an accessory to other items such as a key chain. More particularly, the present invention relates to the addition of an improvement which is incorporated within the metal retaining frame to allow one frame to accommodate similar objects such as numismatic coins or medallions which are of slightly different size such as different thickness, width, length, or circumference.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,831 issued to Jhono discloses an apparatus and frame design for retaining jewelry of precise dimensions. FIGS. 12 through 18 in that patent disclose the design for a frame wherein the piece of jewelry or coin is retained within the upper portion of the frame and is locked therein by one or more retaining rings which are inserted into an annular groove located within the frame wall and below the area where the coin or medallion is retained. An object of the invention in that patent was to create a frame which would hold precise dimensions in specific areas so that jewelry or coins manufactured to precise dimensions could be securely held within the frame. Therefore, the upper portion of the frame which encircled the coin or medallion was precisely designed to accommodate a specific size coin or medallion. Additionally, the annular groove within the frame was designed to be substantually 90 degrees overall and substantially 45 degrees from the horizontal, with the upper and lower walls being smoothly sloped. This design achieved the advantage of having a proper resolution of forces of the retaining wire so that approximately half of the force was directed upward to retain the coin or medallion and approximately half the force was directed outward to support the retaining wire within the annular groove.
The invention as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,831 is excellent for retaining bullion coins of current issue such as Krugerrands which are normally uncirculated prior to mounting and therefore have fairly precise and consistent dimensions from one coin to the other. It has become popular to wear circulated numismatic coins as a jewelry item. Examples are United States gold coins of the nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Many discontinued numismatic coin types, especially gold coins, were generally minted over a number of years and at more than one mint location. This resulted in subtle changes in the coins, some of which resulted in dimensional changes. Most typically the variation resulted in differing thickness at the rim edge of the coin, even though the basic coin design and its official type designation were the same.
Even when using uncirculated or protected proof coins, one cannot except the dimensions of each coin to be exactly the same. The principal criteria for minting coins of precious metal (especially gold) was the maintenance of precise weight rather than precisely uniform dimensions during the years of issue for each official type of coin. In the making of new coining dies to replace worn or broken die sets or to incorporate subtle variations such as date changes and mint markings, it became necessary to adjust the die set during final finishing by the engraver to accommodate the precise volume of metal contained in the coining blank or planchet. Typically, this adjustment was accomplished by varying the thickness at the rim edge of the coining die set and the resulting coins produced therefrom. Therefore, most reference texts which provide detailed descriptions and specificaions for numismatic coinage either omit coin thickness dimensions altogether, or use the term "various" or "variable" when defining the edge thickness or thickness at the rim for many precious metal coin types. Therefore, a manufacturer of frames cannot manufacture one frame of precise dimensions and expect to accommodate the multiplicity of variations in the numismatic coins.
Further, if used coins are employed in the jewelry frame, the common wear on the coin during use will create a multiplicity of dimensional variations in the coin thickness and/or in perimeter dimensions such as diameter, circumference, length and width. Therefore, while the invention as described and disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,283,831 is excellent for retaining objects of precise dimensions, its ability to retain objects of varying dimensions is severely limited. If the thickness of the coin is too great or too thin, the retaining ring cannot effectively retain the object within the frame. If the perimeter dimensions are undersize, the coin or medallion will most likely move or rotate freely within the frame. Therefore, the known prior art does not disclose an apparatus whereby a multiplicity of dimensional variations in the object to be retained can be accommodated by a single retaining frame size.